OWENTON, Ky. – History was made at Owen County High School on Monday night as Collins claimed its first girls basketball regional title.

Jeian Hayes’ 3-point play with :07.1 left lifted the Titans to a 45-42 victory over Simon Kenton in the Eighth Region final. By knocking off the two-time defending champions, Collins advanced to Lexington for the Sweet 16, where the Titans will face Southwestern on March 14 at Rupp Arena.

“This is amazing,” Hayes said. “Like we literally have waited for this since freshman year. We never really believed that we could do it and make it this far, but we actually did.”

With the game tied at 42, Collins (23-12) had the ball with :19.7 left. The Titans inbounded the ball to Hallie Renfro. She fought through a double team as she crossed midcourt and got the ball to Olivia Federle on the wing. Federle drove and drew two Pioneer defenders to her in the paint. That allowed Hayes to get open for a bounce pass near the left block.

As Hayes gathered the ball, she absorbed contact. She fought through that to get the go-ahead layup.

“A lot of thoughts were going through my head because I knew that if I missed that shot, that they might possibly get a three off or anything, an and-one,” the senior wing said. “So, I knew that I needed to finish that shot.”

After a timeout, she collected herself to finish the 3-point play from the free-throw line and score her 12th point.

Alexis Baker had a chance to force overtime for the Pioneers (21-12), but her 3-point try from the left corner hit off the rim just as the buzzer sounded.

Collins players on the floor then embraced one another as they ran toward midcourt, joined by their teammates and other fellow students. The school’s band began to play “Gonna Fly Now” from “Rocky.”

It turned out to be a fitting choice of music.

“I don’t think a lot of people gave us a whole lot of chance when this all started,” coach Sean Pigman said.

The game went back and forth at a methodical pace as neither team shot better than 33 percent. Collins led 17-9 midway through the second quarter after a pair of free throws by Allendra Brooks. They withstood a 7-0 run by the Pioneers to climb back into the contest, with Renfro getting a late layup to give Collins a 23-20 halftime lead.

Both schools traded the lead four times in the third quarter, with Renfro making it 31-30 on a 3-pointer with 1:32 left in the period.

After Collins took a 33-30 lead into the fourth quarter, the Pioneers held the Titans scoreless for the first 4:26. That allowed Simon Kenton to build a 37-33 lead.

Pigman implored his team to battle through the Pioneers' run.

“It was one of those deals we believed that as long as we were close with three minutes to go, we could win,” Pigman said.

Collins didn’t quit and took a 40-39 lead on a Trinity Warfield layup with 2:19 left.

Federle put the Titans up 42-40 on two free throws with 1:36 left, only to see Maggie Jones tie it on a layup in the final minute. That set the stage for Hayes’ heroics.